Globalisation, labour standards and economic development

When this chapter was originally written for the Handbook of Globalisation (Michie, 2003) the burning issue regarding labour standards was the attempt by advanced country governments and unions, particularly the US, to establish multilateral rules in the World Trade Organization (WTO) to enforce labour standards globally. This initiative did not succeed and the issues raised remain as relevant as ever, though they no longer command as much attention at the top of the international policy agenda. This slightly revised version therefore retains the basic structure of the arguments presented on labour standards in a developmental context. However, in view of the subsequent rise of China and India as major producers and exporters and the perception in the US that this presents a threat to its workers and industries alike, even the principal cause of its industrial and labour woes, this issue is briefly introduced here in an Addendum.

[1]  A. Wood,et al.  How Trade Hurt Unskilled Workers , 1995 .

[2]  A. Ghose.  Trade liberalization and manufacturing employment , 2000 .

[3]  Richard B. Freeman,et al.  Are Your Wages Set in Beijing , 1995 .

[4]  A. Atkinson.  Is rising income inequality inevitable? : a critique of the transatlantic consensus , 2005 .

[5]  R. Dhumale,et al.  Globalization, Technology, and Income Inequality: A Critical Analysis , 2000 .

[6]  A. Atkinson.  The Changing Distribution of Income: Evidence and Explanations , 2000 .

[7]  R. Currie,et al.  The Making of the English Working Class , 1965 .

[8]  M. Slaughter,et al.  Does globalization lower wages and export jobs , 1997 .

[9]  Ajit Singh,et al.  The global labour standards controversy: critical issues for developing countries , 2000 .

[10]  P. Gottschalk,et al.  Cross-National Comparisons of Earnings and Income Inequality , 1997 .

[11]  A. Singh.  Global economic trends and social development , 2000 .

[12]  Drusilla K. Brown,et al.  International Labor Standards and Trade: A Theoretical Analysis , 1993 .

[13]  Gita Sen,et al.  World development report 1995: Workers in an integrating world , 1996 .

[14]  J. Richardson,et al.  Income Inequality and Trade: How to Think, What to Conclude , 1995 .

[15]  Matthew J. Slaughter,et al.  International Trade and Labour‐market Outcomes: Results, Questions, and Policy Options , 1998 .

[16]  Gary Burtless.  International Trade and the Rise in Earnings Inequality , 1995 .

[17]  P. Krugman,et al.  Technology, Trade, and Factor Prices , 1995 .

[18]  J. Bhagwati.  Free Trade: Old and New Challenges , 1994 .

[19]  K. Basu,et al.  Child Labor: Cause, Consequence, and Cure, with Remarks on International Labor Standards , 1998 .

[20]  Ajit Singh,et al.  Does Fast Growth in India and China Help or Harm US Workers? , 2010 .

[21]  P. Krugman,et al.  Trade, Jobs, and Wages , 1993, Free Trade under Fire.

[22]  Alice H. Amsden,et al.  Asia's next giant , 1989 .

[23]  Ajit Singh.  Third World Competition and De-industrialisation in Advanced Countries , 1989 .

[24]  Ajit Singh,et al.  THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GOLDEN AGE , 1988 .

[25]  A. Wood,et al.  North-South Trade, Employment and Inequality: Changing Fortunes in a Skill-Driven World , 1994 .

[26]  Barry Eichengreen.  Institutions and Economic Growth: Europe After World War II , 1994 .

[27]  N. Crafts,et al.  Economic growth in Europe since 1945: Economic Growth in Europe since 1945 , 1996 .

[28]  Candace Howes,et al.  Competitiveness Matters: Industry and Economic Performance in the U.S. , 2000 .